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Sweden: Woman finds 'skulls and bones of 80 people' in Ikea bags

A woman says she is furious after discovering the remains of dozens of people stuffed in Ikea bags at a church in Sweden.

The remains were kept in bags under the church's floorboards. Credit: Axel Heimken/DPA

Erotic novelist Kicki Karlén told Swedish news organisation The Local that she found the bones and skeletons of "around 80" people at the Kläckeberga church in the south of the country while doing research for her next book.

It made me very angry about how they were just sitting there. Some people at the parish told me the bones had been there since 2009.

– Kicki Karlén

According to the website, the bags have been sitting under the floorboards of the church since parts were dug up and rebuilt to allow wheelchair access.

An archaeologist involved in the dig five years ago said some of them may be as many as 500 years old.

And while he denied placing the bones in the bag, Ludvig Papmehl-Dufay argued that they would be an effective way of preserving the remains.

It's not standard practice, definitely not for archaeologists, but the Ikea bags aren't actually that bad. They'd be great for stopping the moulding process. But it can't be that good to have them in the basement for so long."

– Ludvig Papmehl-Dufay

Though she remains angry about her shocking discovery, Karlen says the episode may feature in one of her stories in future.

"You know, I just might put them in. I have to say I'm tempted," she said.